Website design news, tips and advice

It seems scarcely believable that a new year is only three months away but it’s as good an excuse as any to take a look at what many believe will be some key web design trends in 2013.

1) Responsive web design

Fast becoming a household name in the tech industry, responsive web design has quickly established itself as a key consideration during the early development stages of websites and web apps. The mobile revolution has forced developers to look beyond the desktop when designing a website. Smartphones and tablets need to be taken into account from the very beginning to ensure that people browsing with their thumbs and fingers don’t loose out. Responsive web design enables pages to react to the device on which they are being viewed. This means different screen sizes and resolutions are catered for without the need to develop multiple versions of the same webpage.

2) Brand over design

In 2013, it is likely that more firms will continue the trend of translating their business via their website’s design. Rather than simply relying on design trends, the design process will focus on the brand in question and use that as its lead. Extensions of the logo and an intrinsic use of corporate colours and values will dictate how the website looks – not the latest fashion on the digital catwalk.

3) Parallax scrolling

Derived from the Greek word ‘Parallaxis’ (meaning ‘alteration), parallax scrolling is a slowly-emerging yet intriguing method of moving elements on a webpage. Typically, a page will scroll up and down, left and right in a very two-dimensional fashion. Parallax scrolling adds depth to the movement of a page by forcing specific elements to scroll at different rates, creating a faux-3D effect. This offers an engaging and immersive browsing experience which can be used to fantastic effect when promoting products.